


Never Felt So Glad To Be So Beyond Repair

by thalialunacy



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Imprinting, M/M, Rain, Soul Bond, Summer Pornathon 2013
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-21
Updated: 2013-07-21
Packaged: 2017-12-20 21:14:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/891937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thalialunacy/pseuds/thalialunacy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one with the Imprinting. (And the dubcon that goes with it.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never Felt So Glad To Be So Beyond Repair

**Author's Note:**

> Written for week 3 of summerpornathon, a fuck-or-die challenge. This is the original, slightly longer version; the title is from 'Dairy Queen' by Amy Ray as performed by the Indigo Girls.

"Fuck. You."

Each word is distinct as it's spat out at Arthur's feet, joining the rainwater puddled there.

"Well, generally, it's the other way around, but—"

Arthur had not been expecting a stunning right hook on a guy so slim.

But, then again, he thinks while he's bent over, palm on his jaw, this is _his_ mate. He should've known better.

He straightens, blinking the rain and residual sting out of his eyes, and looks at this angular, pale, _furious_ man in front of him. "This isn't my doing, you know."

Merlin eyes him. "It isn't."

"God, do you really not—" Arthur shakes his head, heedless of the slight pain it brings. _Stunning_ right hook. "I'm in the same boat as you." He tilts his chin a little. "Well, not exactly the same, seeing as I've always known I—" He stops, frustrated, and runs a hand through his hair. "Okay, let's start with the basics: I'm not going to hurt you."

Merlin snorts. "Fucking right, you aren't. It already hurts. Ever since you—" He gestures vaguely. "You know."

"Yes, and I'm sorry about that, if I'd've known you'd been raised not knowing I would have been much more—" He shrugs. "Subtle."

"Lie number two."

A corner of Arthur's mouth quirks up of its own volition. "Okay, fair point. God, you're—"

"Watch it."

"No, I—" He makes a frustrated noise low in his throat. He can see that Merlin's sweating, Merlin's flushed, Merlin's body is responding whether Merlin likes it or not. Which is understandably a big not, and Arthur's chest hurts with it.

 _Breathe, Arthur_. He hears Gwen's voice in his head, as always, and focuses on it, like a pinpoint of light in a dark theatre. He breathes in, watching as Merlin's chest heaves in a mirroring motion, and the storm parts enough for him to walk through.

He takes a few steps forward, his posture calm and open. "The reason it hurts right now is because when I kissed you, something happened. Something called Imprinting."

Merlin's eyes get big, then they narrow just as quickly. "Bullshit. That's _Twilight_ -inspired bullshit that tween girls tell themselves at slumber p—"

Arthur turns and takes a few steps away, feeling the tear in his lungs, in his gut, that he knows is also forming in Merlin. When Merlin grunts in pain, he stops and turns.

Merlin's face – Oh, it's awful. He finally believes Arthur, that's for certain. He looks crushed, angry as fuck, and vulnerable as hell.

Arthur feels for him, he really does. "Ridiculous, isn't it?" He retreads the ground and then some, getting as close to Merlin as he can, feeling the ache heal, soothed, turning into a new kind of burn— He reaches out, and Merlin flinches but leans into it, can't help himself, Arthur knows. His hand ends up cupping Merlin's neck, pulling them together until their arms are tight around each other and the heat – Arthur can't begin to explain it.

The rain isn't even touching them.

Merlin's voice shatters the moment. "So that's it?"

Arthur pulls back just enough to look at him, brow furrowed. "What's it?"

"I'm just… stuck with you?"

Arthur is almost offended. "Hey, it's not the worst match you could've asked for." He stands straighter. "I'm very well-off, you know."

Merlin laughs humourlessly. "Oh, lovely, I'm cosmically bonded to a rich prat in a polo. Do you even _like_ boys?"

"That hardly matters anymore."

"It totally matters!" Merlin throws his hands in the air. "Bound for life to some idiot who's likely pants in bed because he's never seen his own anus, let alone anybody else's? And apparently we can't be more than a foot from each other? That's going to prove very awkward, you know, most of the time. Not to mention my mother will never forgive you."

Arthur blinks. Then he lets out the biggest laugh he's laughed in years, and touches his forehead to Merlin's. "Oh, Merlin." He kisses Merlin again, deeper this time, and the heat rises through them, tangles around them in tendrils, pushing them together until hands find jean fastenings and slip into pants and Merlin's groans are hot in his ears. "Mothers love me, for one." He concentrates, then strokes a finger just where Merlin wants him to, and drinks in Merlin's surprised gasp. "That, for two."

"How—"

"Imprinted. Like baby ducklings, only—"

"Only—" Merlin circles Arthur's cock with his fingers and twists nearly roughly. Stars explode behind Arthur's eyes.

"Yes," he breathes, quickening his own movements. "And third…" But he's cut off by his own body because this—this is more than he's ever experienced, it's too much, it's like he's on overload, and when he comes with a shout, he knows that both of them have, all over their rainwashed fingers, and his skin feels tender, raw. New.

"And third?" Merlin says quietly, his voice wrecked.

"And third," Arthur says, clearing his throat when it comes out like he's just hit puberty. "We could walk away now. For a while. Now that we've—" And he gestures between them, then spots his hand. He holds Merlin's gaze as he passes two slick fingers over his lips, then reaches to do the same over Merlin's slack mouth.

"Oh, God," Merlin breathes, a look of wonder on his face. "I don't—"

Arthur cuts him off with a kiss, his heart full to bursting. "Me neither. But, as you said—" He smiles crookedly. "Awkward."

Merlin's smile is reluctant, guarded, but there nonetheless. He hesitates a moment, then leans in to initiate a kiss himself, and Arthur feels languid heat slip through his veins. "Speaking of awkward," Merlin says against his lips.

"I'll never mention your mother again during sex, I swear."

"Thank you."'

And Merlin grins. Arthur can feel it against his own smile. And he is, for the first time in his life, content.


End file.
